Marblehead’s Boy Scout Troop 11 has begun its annual Christmas tree lot for the holiday season, and not only does the lot serve as a fundraiser for the scouts, but it also helps teach valuable life skills to troop members.
The troop began the fundraiser in 1988 and has been a popular one in town every year since, with most selling out when it is open.
“We started off with about 150 trees, and now we’re up to about 550 trees,” said Assistant Scoutmaster Jim Ramsden.
The lot opened trees for sale on Saturday and will run for roughly two weeks at St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church, located at 67 Cornell Road. Ramsden said the fundraiser mainly serves as a way to pay for the yearly trips that the troop takes, including roughly 10-weekend trips a year, day trips, and summer camps. Additionally, every two out of three years, the scouts will be taken on a “high adventure” trip, such as backpacking in the Grand Canyon.
“It gives us an opportunity to give a great experience to the scouts,” Ramsden said.
Some of the funds raised from the lot will also go towards equipment purchases and youth and adult training.
This year, the troop is partnering with the Cub Scouts of Pack 11 to sell wreaths in addition to trees at the lot. Eagle Scout Tyler Earp, who has helped out at the tree lot for several years as a member of the scout program, said that the fundraiser can also serve as a great experience for younger scouts.
“It’s fun working on tree lot, it’s an interesting experience, you have a lot of fun friendships you create with other scouts,” Earp said.
Earp added that there are various skills that scouts learn throughout the process as well.
“You learn a lot about salesmanship, social skills, all that kind of stuff,” he said.
“I like the salesmanship they get to learn because I believe there’s no job in the world where having some salesmanship experience isn’t going to help you,” Ramsden added.
For Troop 11 Boy Scout Luke Webster, a lot goes into preparing the trees, but it’s worth knowing that it helps ensure he and his fellow scouts have memorable trip experiences.
“It’s really fun, and the tree sales are hard work, but it pays off when you get to go on fun trips, like camping trips,” Webster said.
The Troop 11 tree lot is open from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. For more information on the fundraiser and the trees sold at the lot, visit https://www.mhdtroop11.org/home.